Types of Analysis
Spradley describes ethnography as different from deductive types of social research in that the five steps of ethnographic research--selecting a problem, collecting data, analyzing data, formulating hypotheses, and writing--all happen simultaneously (p. 93-94).
In The Ethnographic Interview, Spradley describes four types of ethnographic analysis that basically build on each other. The first type of analysis is domain analysis, which is “a search for the larger units of cultural knowledge” (p. 94). The other kinds of analysis are taxonomic analysis, componential analysis, and theme analysis.
All of Spradley’s theories about ethnographic analysis hinge on his belief that researchers should be searching for the meaning that participants make of their lives. These meanings are expressed through symbols, which can be words, but can also be nonverbal cues. However, because this book is about analyzing interviews, Spradley focuses on analyzing the spoken words of the participants. He explains that words are symbols that represent some kind of meaning for an individual, and each symbol has three parts: the symbol itself, what the symbol refers to, and the relationship between the symbol and the referent. Thus, the word computer is a symbol for me. It refers to many things, including my own personal computer, which is an Apple laptop. Thus, my laptop is a kind of computer in my mind, and this shows the relationship I am making between the symbol (computer) and the referent (the particular computer I am typing on now).
Read more about this topic: James Spradley
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